Film dispensing and wrapping or packaging machines or apparatus, for wrapping articles, packages, or palletized loads within wrapping or packaging film, are of course well known in the art. Examples of such film dispensing and wrapping or packaging machines or apparatus are disclosed within U.S. Pat. No. 6,195,961 which issued to Turfan on Mar. 6, 2001, U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,691 which issued to Turfan on Aug. 4, 1998, U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,807 which issued to Morantz on May 21, 1996, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,796 which issued to Haloila on May 13, 1986. In addition, or in conjunction with the aforenoted patented disclosures, it is known that there are several different types of conventional film dispensing and wrapping or packaging machines. Briefly, for example, a turntable type film dispensing and wrapping or packaging machine is disclosed within FIG. 1 and is generally indicated by the reference character 100. In accordance with such a turntable type film dispensing and wrapping or packaging machine 100, a palletized load, not shown, is adapted to be placed upon a turntable 102, and a wrapping or packaging film dispensing carriage assembly 104 is movably mounted in a vertically reciprocable manner upon an upstanding standard or support mast 106. Accordingly, as the palletized load is rotated around the rotary axis of the turntable 102, and as the wrapping or packaging film dispensing carriage assembly 104 is moved in a vertically reciprocable manner, either from its uppermost position to its lowermost position, or from its lowermost position to its uppermost position, the wrapping or packaging film, dispensed from the wrapping or packaging film dispensing carriage assembly 104, wraps or packages the palletized load within the wrapping or packaging film.
Continuing further, a rotary arm type film wrapping or packaging machine is disclosed within FIG. 2 and is generally indicated by the reference character 200. In accordance with such a rotary arm type film dispensing and wrapping or packaging machine 200, an upstanding framework 202 effectively defines a film wrapping or packaging station 204 at an axially central portion thereof, and a palletized load, not shown, which is to be wrapped or packaged within film wrapping or packaging material, is adapted to be disposed at such film wrapping or packaging station 204. A rotary arm assembly 206, which is rotatably mounted upon an upper frame member 208 of the upstanding framework 202, is adapted to rotate around the film wrapping or packaging station 204, and a wrapping or packaging film dispensing carriage assembly 210 is movably mounted in a vertically reciprocable manner upon the rotary arm assembly 206. Accordingly, as the rotary arm assembly 206 is rotated around the film wrapping or packaging station 204, and as the wrapping or packaging film dispensing carriage assembly 210 is moved in a vertically reciprocable manner, either from its uppermost position to its lowermost position, or from its lowermost position to its uppermost position, the wrapping or packaging film, dispensed from the wrapping or packaging film dispensing carriage assembly 210, wraps or packages the palletized load within the wrapping or packaging film.
Lastly, a rotary ring type film wrapping or packaging machine is disclosed within FIG. 3 and is generally indicated by the reference character 300. In accordance with such a rotary ring type film dispensing and wrapping or packaging machine 300, an upstanding framework 302 effectively defines a film wrapping or packaging station 304 at an axially central portion thereof, and a palletized load, not shown, which is to be wrapped or packaged within film wrapping or packaging material, is adapted to be disposed at such film wrapping or packaging station 304. A rotary ring member 306 is rotatably mounted upon a frame member 308 so as to rotate around the film wrapping or packaging station 304, and the frame member 308 is adapted to be movably mounted in a vertically reciprocable manner upon the upstanding framework 302. In addition, a wrapping or packaging film dispensing carriage assembly, not shown, is adapted to be fixedly mounted upon the rotary ring member 306. Accordingly, as the rotary ring member 306 is rotated around the film wrapping or packaging station 304, and as the frame member 308 is moved in a vertically reciprocable manner, either from its uppermost position to its lowermost position, or from its lowermost position to its uppermost position, the wrapping or packaging film, dispensed from the wrapping or packaging film dispensing carriage assembly, wraps or packages the palletized load within the wrapping or packaging film.
Regardless of which type of conventional film wrapping or packaging machine is utilized to wrap or package palletized loads within wrapping or packaging film, one desirable operative objective of a film wrapping or packaging operation or procedure is to be able to determine, for example, how much force or tension is being impressed upon the wrapping film, and in conjunction with such, it is desirable to effectively confirm that the force or tension which the wrapping film is actually experiencing corresponds to the desired film force or tension predeterminedly inputted into the apparatus as an operative output characteristic. Another operative objective which one may want to know or monitor in connection with film wrapping apparatus is how much pre-stretch is being impressed upon the wrapping film so as to in fact be capable of achieving a predetermined amount of pre-stretch within the wrapping film. Still another operative objective which one may want to know or monitor, in connection with film wrapping apparatus, is how much wrapping film is in fact being used, for example, per wrapped load, or the number of loads that can be wrapped per roll of wrapping film. Ultimately, the capability of monitoring and knowing the aforenoted operative features or characteristics can lead to the optimal operation of the film wrapping apparatus or system. Still yet further, it is also desirable to incorporate within film wrapping apparatus or systems various operational maintenance or safety mechanisms which can effectively inform operator personnel that, for example, the amount of wrapping film remaining upon a particular roll of wrapping film mounted upon the wrapping or packaging film dispensing carriage assembly is running low, that the door, covering the film drive rollers and normally disposed in a CLOSED and LOCKED position for the protection of operator personnel, is actually OPEN and therefore the apparatus could be operating in an unsafe mode, or that the mandrel or spindle, upon which the roll of wrapping film is disposed, is disposed at an OPEN or LOADING position which would also effectively place the apparatus in an unsafe operating mode. No prior art of which applicants are aware provide all of the various aforenoted operative features or characteristics.
A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved film dispensing and wrapping system or apparatus wherein the various aforenoted operative features or characteristics are able to be determined, monitored, and controlled so as to achieve optimal film wrapping operations to be performed by means of the film dispensing and wrapping systems or apparatus, and to ensure that the system or apparatus is in fact being operated in a safe mode of operation for the protection of operator personnel.